I was blog-surfing...
And I read a post and had the urge to look through ALL my sermon notes.
A prompting from God, perhaps?
Okay it's Priscilla's blog. I am now blogging in response to her post.
But hey, I'm not trying to go against her or anything.
The time has come to stand for what I believe in.
Hello.. Anyone out there can help me, add on or correct my points? Please do.
And true enough, these three topics.
Evangelism, Healing and The Gift of Tongues.
1. Evangelism
Why should we evangelise/tell people about God?
a) God commissioned us to do that.
-Jesus said in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. ..."
-Jesus' final words, Luke 24:46-48, "He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." "
So you see... He instructed us to preach and share the gospel with others. Allow me to go on.
b) It is God's desire that we evangelise.
-God wants everyone to be in heaven and not hell.
-Recall, the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15
- 1 Timothy 2:3-4 states, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. "
Actually, there's alot from the bible regarding God's desire to see us saved, but I'll not list all of them here. He does not want us to perish, but repent. When even one non-believer is converted, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God.
c) Dire consequences await if we don't do it.
-As Christians all know, Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and THE life.
Now look at how hell is like.
_"where " 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'Everyone will be salted with fire. ...' " Mark 9:48
_"They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:42
_" ""Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ...' " Matthew 25:41
Look, hell is described as everlasting fire punishment, fire, etc. And it is just so real. Don't want to scare anyone here, but hell does exist. I'm not supposed to be saying this openly actually, but this time I feel that I should just do it. I'll stop at this point though there's lots more.
Christians.. yeah, we definitely want to bring our friends to church and introduce them to what we are doing, let them know that there is a God who is watching over us each day. And this same God really wants them to know Him. However, we don't want to freak the poor non-Christian out by asking him/her to come if we can sense the reluctance in that person. I think that's a bit too much? It won't help because he/she will be even more unwilling to hang out with us, we certainly do not want that to happen.
2. Healing
This is linked to deliverance, in case you didn't know.
God heals, we know that. I don't have to type the bible references out, do I?
Being able to heal... is a commission given to the church.
-James 5:14-15 "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. "
Not everyone can heal and deliver leh.
-(this verse is kinda repeated)
Mark 16:15-18 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." "
Here, I'm also pointing to the tongues part.
- Acts 10:38. "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."
In the same way, God's sons and daughters can also be anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, following Jesus' footsteps. They can heal and cast out demons, only because God allowed them to, because all these are done in the name of Jesus. Have you ever heard of anyone saying that they can do what Jesus did without any help? No right? God works through these people so that more people can be healed. And finally...
3. The Gift of Tongues
About spiritual gifts
1 Corinthians 12:8-10,
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
Underlined are the spiritual gifts. A question. Why are spiritual gifts given?
The spiritual gifts are not given for selfish reasons but to serve and bless others as well as strengthen the church and our relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 12:7 "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."
About the gift of tongues.
Actually the whole of 1 Corinthians 14 is about that. But I'll pick a few here...
a)Who should speak in tongues?
Paul wants all believers to speak in tongues.
it's in verse 5 and quite straightforward. The prophecy part is a totally different thing which I will not be covering.
b)How often should one speak in tongues?
Paul spoke in tongues very often, so should we.
verse 18, "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you."
If he was against tongues he wouldn't be speaking so much of it, haha.
c)What if one doesn't speak in tongues?
Well, do not stop other believers from speaking in tongues. It's stated in the same book and chapter,
verse 39, "Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and ,do not forbid speaking in tongues."
d) When should we use the gift of tongues?
Actually, there are two ways of using it.
i. For personal prayer and devotion. Using it as a kind of prayer language, it will improve one's relationship with God. He understands what one is speaking although it might sound rubbish.
verse 2 & 4 "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." and "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself"
ii. As a gift of the Spirit in the worship service or in church. It must be interpreted and used in an orderly manner. Like in my church, we pray in tongues very frequently. It somehow strengthens prayers and the presence of God is like, felt more strongly.
verse 28, "If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God."
I have typed out 95% of what I know and feel about the 3 topics. And I spent... more than 2 hours? It's all worth it. God's word. I hope I didn't type this for nothing. And, I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you've read everything above. Won't want to type for the pixels to read cos' they ain't living.
As for pentacostal churches... I have no reason to be against them. In fact I am FOR them =)
Comments welcome.
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